The Wacky World of Republican Presidential Announcements

Donald Trump has made it official, via statement issued today, that he will not be running for President. While maintaining his “strong conviction” that he could win office, he said in that statement, “business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.” Translation: I got a ton of publicity, NBC picked up my show for another year, so I’m done with my political show and we can now return to our regularly scheduled episode of The Apprentice. Peace out.

But before that statement he issued another video statement in support of Mike Huckabee’s decision not to run, which had the Meet the Press roundtable panel in hysterics. (You can watch that above.) Huckabee announced Saturday night at the end of his show (and just in time for the Sunday morning political programs) that he wouldn’t be running.

“Mike, enjoy the show. Your ratings are terrific, you’re making a lot of money, you’re building a beautiful house in Florida. Good luck,” said Trump. Wha?

On the opposite end, you’ve got those who have announced they’ll run, like Newt Gingrich, who also appeared on Meet the Press yesterday after spending a week announcing and re-announcing that he’s running for President.